Crew News & Notes - February 2

The Crew departed for Phoenix on Saturday, where it will spend the next three weeks preparing for the CONCACAF Champions League quarterfinal series against Real Salt Lake (Feb. 22 and March 1), as well as for FirstKick 2011.

While in Phoenix the Black & Gold will play five matches against MLS teams beginning this Saturday, Feb. 5, against Sporting Kansas City and concluding on Feb. 17 against the Houston Dynamo, before returning to Columbus. The Crew will then embark on its second preseason trip right after the March 1 CCL match at RSL by traveling to Atlanta for a week.

While in Georgia, the Crew will take part in the first-ever Atlanta Pro Soccer Challenge as the centerpiece of the trip. The Atlanta Beat of Women’s Professional Soccer is presenting the event at the Kennesaw State University Soccer Stadium, featuring the Houston Dynamo and New England Revolution in addition to the Crew.

The Atlanta Pro Soccer Challenge is an opportunity for soccer fans in the region to see MLS clubs playing for the first time in the Atlanta area. Each team will play two games over three days, with the Crew facing New England on March 9 and Houston on March 11. The Crew and Revs will also meet prior to the challenge, on March 6 at Finley Stadium in Chattanooga, Tenn.

NEW YORK JOINS COLUMBUS, D.C. AS TWO-TIME HOSTS OF MLS ALL-STAR GAMEFor the first time in 14 years, the New York metropolitan area will host the MLS All-Star Game after the league announced on Tuesday that the 2011 edition will be played at Red Bull Arena in Harrison, N.J., on July 27 at 8:30 p.m. ET. Twelve different markets have hosted the All-Star Game, but only three have hosted it twice – Columbus, New York and Washington, D.C. The All-Stars’ opponent and ticket details will be announced by MLS at a later date.

ROCK ON THE RANGE LINEUP ANNOUNCEDThe lineup for Rock On The Range 2011 was announced this week, featuring A Perfect Circle, Avenged Sevenfold, Korn, Staind, Disturbed and Stone Sour. The annual festival, which attracts fans from all over the world, will take place at Crew Stadium the weekend of May 21. This year, event organizers have added a fifth anniversary party on May 20 that will precede the festival.

CONCACAF CHAMPIONS LEAGUE TICKETS ON SALE NOWTickets for the home leg of its CONCACAF Champions League Quarterfinal series vs. Real Salt Lake are now on sale at the Crew Stadium Box Office, all central Ohio Ticketmaster retail locations, via Ticketmaster phone at 1-800-745-3000 and on-line at TheCrew.com, following the completion of an exclusive pre-sale opportunity being extended to Crew Soccer Nation members. Ticket prices start at $25 for the Feb. 22 match that is slated to kick off at 8 p.m. at Crew Stadium. The second game of the two-game, home-and-home total-goals match-up will be played at Rio Tinto Stadium in Sandy, Utah, on March 1. The winner of the series will become the first MLS club to advance to the Champions League Semifinals, where it will face the winner of the Olimpia (Honduras) vs. Saprissa (Costa Rica) series on March 14 and April 4.